ENG: A Polish-Chinese musical collaboration? Several years ago this might have sounded rather abstract, but today, in the age of microsecond data-flow, any artistic alliances wouldn’t be to my surprise. Especially since this is the fifth release recorded within the framework of the ChoP project, where experimental artists from Poland and those from beyond the Great Wall join forces and create music together.

“Structure Of” is the result of the collaboration between Bai Tian and Krzysztof Orluk. Both artists present four tracks each. In terms of form and mood the tracks are sometimes different, but more often the two artists are on almost the same wavelength, which is why the final effect is very coherent. The music in the album is static, standing in opposition to the hustle and bustle that is constantly attacking one from everywhere, through any medium. The musicians are operating on subtle, synthetic-organic analogue structures and the ones generated by Bai Tian seem to me to be brighter and more serene. “On The Way” for example, which is reminiscent of the beginning of a day in a mountain village in China, where kids are playing and adults are preparing for work. Or the beautifully organic background of “White Night” that sounds like a strong wind rustling between branches and leaves. These are simple associations, guided by a certain selection of field recordings, yet without their proper composition and the skilfully woven sounds that fill the void, it probably wouldn’t have been possible to create such a suggestive atmosphere.

If Bai Tian makes the music of dawn, then the sounds created by Krzysztof revolve around the evening or night. In his segments one can find a piece of ambient darkness (“Panaphonic”) – obviously not one similar to releases by “typical” dark ambient artists. Or a little bit of industrial clatter in the fourth track, “Mind Spa”. On the other hand, in “Ozone” the microclicks, audio feedbacks and stains of silence bring – each of the above elements equally – some big city anxiety. People may be asleep, but machines work 24/7, transforming numbers and indexes. In the end both artists complete each other and apart from the occasional fragments it’s hard to even discern that some tracks were composed by a European and others by a musician from the Far East. I know it sounds cliché, but this music is indeed above cultural or geographical divisions. And to rise even higher and embrace “Structure Of” in a global context, I’ll say that my favourite track is Bai Tian’s “Sense”, which with its ethereal aura reminds me of the Italian Oophoi, while it evokes the name of Yui Onodera in my subconsciousness.

It’s not perhaps the easiest listening music in the world. It certainly requires attention and focus, at least if you want to appreciaty it fully, instead of just superficially slide on the sounds. But to someone who prefers less obvious music and works compiled in not so predictable a manner, this Bai Tian and Krzysztof Orluk release should bring much satisfaction.